Project Management

All Project Management Downloads

Project Management White Papers

• Mastering the Iteration: An Agile White Paper

  Dean Leffingwell

  By: Dean Leffingwell

  The heartbeat of Agile development is the iteration – the ability of the team to create working, tested, value-delivered code in a short time box – with the goal of producing an increment of potentially shippable code at the end of each iteration. In this white paper, Dean describes the basic iteration pattern and the activities that a team engages in to meet this key challenge.

• A Project Manager's Survival Guide to Going Agile

  Michele Sliger

  By: Michele Sliger

  This paper focuses on re-defining the job of project manager to better fit the self-managed team environment, one of the core Agile principles. Special emphasis is placed on the shift to servant leadership, with its focus on facilitation and collaboration.

• A CIO's Playbook for Adopting the Scrum Method of Achieving Software Agility

  Hubert Smits

  Dean Leffingwell

  By: Hubert Smits & Dean Leffingwell

  The authors of this white paper have helped many hundreds of teams adopt Scrum. Here they share how CIOs can implement Scrum on an organization-wide basis - the challenges they will face as well as the rewards - and provides a playbook for adopting Scrum in enterprises where software, and lots of it, is the key to competitive success in the marketplace.

• Five Levels of Agile Planning: From Enterprise Product Vision to Team Stand-up

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  Existing Agile methods often focus on small, single-team projects and overlook the broader impact of large, multi-team and multi-year projects. This paper outlines a distinct planning framework that has been used successfully in large-scale Agile projects and relies on five levels: product vision, product roadmap, release plan, sprint plan and daily commitment.

• Tactical Management of Agile Development: Achieving Competitive Advantage

  Dean Leffingwell

  By: Dean Leffingwell

  This white paper provides an invaluable Agile development overview full of techniques, best practices and educational materials.

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Project Management Presentations

• Tooling in an Agile Environment and the Acorn Case Study

  Torsten Weirich

  Ryan Martens

  By: Torsten Weirich & Ryan Martens

  To explore the role of tools as a change-enabler in adopting Agile, this presentation introduces an organizational change model from waterfall to Agile. Using this model, Ryan and Torsten will show how changes in the “dev-build-test-fix” cycle along with project/program visibility, tracking and signaling tools can help lead the change effort, especially in medium to large teams.

• Five Levels of Agile Planning

  Zach Nies

  Hubert Smits

  By: Zach Nies & Hubert Smits

  This slide presentation guides participants through Agile practices when applied to large-scale projects, which can broadly be defined as projects that involve over 50 people and take months or years to complete. Hubert and Zach will walk through the five levels of Agile planning – from yearly planning conducted by the product owner to the daily stand-up meetings of the delivery team.

• Implementing Agile at the Team Level

  Jean Tabaka

  By: Jean Tabaka

  Experience has shown that successful Agile adoptions often begin at the team level and must be guided by a clear, step-wise approach. In this slide presentation, Certified ScrumMaster Trainer, author and professional facilitator Jean Tabaka concentrates on Agile guidelines that emphasize "flow" at the team level.

• Intro to Scrum

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  In this slide presentation, Hubert Smits will introduce the audience to Scrum, one of the most popular Agile methods. He will explain the process details of this project management method, the place of Scrum in the Agile world and talk about the roles within Scrum. Throughout the presentation, he will share his experience as an international Scrum coach with the audience.

• I Don't Like Mondays

  Jean Tabaka

  By: Jean Tabaka

  In this slide presentation, author, Agile coach and Certified ScrumMaster Trainer Jean Tabaka shows that with the right culture and good meeting management, teams won't dread Mondays anymore.

• From Analyst to Owner

  Ronica Roth

  By: Ronica Roth

  For many business analysts (BAs), Agile provides a perfect, and ultimately more rewarding, role – product owner. Many BAs will need to rethink their role and their talents to succeed as product owner. In some organizations, BAs support the product owner rather than holding that position themselves. In this slide presentation heavy on exercises and discussion, we will explore how BAs fit on an Agile team.

• Planning with Distributed Teams

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  In Hubert's work as an Agile coach, he regularly facilitates planning sessions, including a few where part of the team was only available through a phone or video link. These were the hardest sessions to get to results. The aim of this slide presentation is to discover practices for teams that have to plan while not being able to be together. Hubert will prepare a project description and (using Scrum terminology) a backlog with priorities and estimates.

• Agile Enterprise Rollout: The Greening of the Software Industry

  Ryan Martens

  Jean Tabaka

  By: Ryan Martens & Jean Tabaka

  To stem this model of waste and poison for a more sustainable 21st century model, the software industry has an opportunity to lead in the greening of the high technology industry. This translates to the following three software-based trends of a zero-waste model: deliver Software as a Service (SaaS), apply Agile software development for sustainable flow of value and rely on social networks for product uptake.

• Overview of Agile

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  This slide presentation provides a broad introduction to concepts of Agile software development and Agile methods. The talk is based on the speaker’s experience as an Agile coach and Certified Scrum Master. Traditional concepts from waterfall or plan-driven development are transformed to an Agile perspective. Examples are release and iteration planning, progress reporting, meeting formats and scaling projects from 10 people teams to 300 people teams.

• Agile Waterfall Cooperative

  Michele Sliger

  By: Michele Sliger

  In this slide presentation, readers will learn to factor their company's business needs into their existing Agile procedures, and management will learn how to begin the investigative work of determining how to streamline these requirements and activities so that they don't hamper the project.

• Successfully Managing Agile Projects in the Waterfall Enterprise

  Michele Sliger

  By: Michele Sliger

  In this presentation, Michele Sliger outlines how to factor your company's business needs into existing Agile processes, streamline requirements and activities and identify specific points where Agile and waterfall teams must plan, coordinate, and review progress.

• A Tale of Two Writing Teams

  Stacia Broderick

  By: Stacia Broderick

  Sometimes considered an "afterthought" in the product development lifecycle, technical writers often struggle to become part of a performing Agile team and can become lost when trying to transition from waterfall to Agile. This presentation provides insight and experience related to technical writers' transition to and scaling with Agile teams.

• DSDM - Go for the Nine

  Jean Tabaka

  By: Jean Tabaka

  In this presentation, Jean Tabaka reviews the similarities and differences of DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method) and Agile. The presentation explores DSDM history, phases, practices, and benefits.

• Distributed Agile Experience Report

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  The BMC Identity Management organization is based in Israel, and has offices in France, the USA and India. Over the past years, the organization has grown through organic growth and acquisitions into a successful business unit within the global BMC organization. Five hundred people are successfully using Scrum to deliver monthly product increments, and the success of this implementation combined with the uncertainty of the product requirements formed the basis for the decision to use Scrum in this project.

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Project Management Webinars

Upcoming Live Webinars

Sep 9th, at 11:00 am

Getting Started with Agile and Rally

Archived Webinars

• How to Plan Agile Projects with Distributed Teams

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  Originally presented at Google Tech Talks, this video gives a hands-on overview of the activities involved in larger Agile projects that stretch out over more then a few months and have more then a single team involved. Hubert based the talk on his paper "Multi-Level Planning for Agile Projects" and presents a practical implementation of the planning levels.

• From Agile Development to Agile Delivery

  Ryan Martens

  By: Ryan Martens & Johnny Scarborough

  This webinar discusses the best practices and incremental adoption strategies that enable teams to take advantage of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based delivery models that rely upon Agile development practices.

• Distributed Agile Software Development: Best Practices

  Ryan Martens

  By: Ryan Martens & Johnny Scarborough

  During the webcast, you’ll learn about the new enablers of collaboration for distributed Agile development, a playbook for technology companies engaged in global software product development. Through case study examples, you’ll also learn practical tips about how distributed Agile-based methods are being employed successfully today.

• Planning and Maintaining the Rhythm of Distributed Scrum

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  This webinar is the tale of a distributed Scrum project with 50 people in four continents. BMC Identity Management decided to build their next generation product, including architectural changes and component integration, using Scrum to handle the uncertainty of their product's requirements.

• Implementing Agile at the Team Level

  Jean Tabaka

  By: Jean Tabaka

  Experience has shown that successful Agile adoptions often begin at the team level and must be guided by a clear, step-wise approach. In this webinar, Certified ScrumMaster Trainer, author and professional facilitator Jean Tabaka concentrates on Agile guidelines that emphasize Flow at the team level.

• Five Levels of Agile Planning

  Zach Nies

  Hubert Smits

  By: Zach Nies & Hubert Smits

  This webinar guides participants through Agile practices when applied to large-scale projects, which can broadly be defined as projects that involve over 50 people and take months or years to complete. Hubert and Zach will walk through the five levels of Agile planning – from yearly planning conducted by the product owner to the daily stand-up meetings of the delivery team.

• Tooling in an Agile Environment and the Acorn Case Study

  Torsten Weirich

  Ryan Martens

  By: Torsten Weirich & Ryan Martens

  To explore the role of tools as a change-enabler in adopting Agile, this webinar introduces an organizational change model from waterfall to Agile. Using this model, Ryan and Torsten will show how changes in the “dev-build-test-fix” cycle along with project/program visibility, tracking and signaling tools can help lead the change effort, especially in medium to large teams.

• Successfully Managing Agile Projects in a Waterfall Enterprise

  Michele Sliger

  By: Michele Sliger

  In this webinar, Michele Sliger outlines how to factor your company's business needs into existing Agile processes, streamline requirements and activities and identify specific points where Agile and waterfall teams must plan, coordinate, and review progress.

• Agile Styles: Lean and DSDM

  Mary Poppendieck

  Jean Tabaka

  By: Mary Poppendieck & Jean Tabaka

  In this webinar, Mary Poppendieck and Jean Tabaka, both veterans of Agile coaching and training, explain the basics, respectively, of Lean and DSDM methodologies. This InfoQ video, Agile Styles: Lean and DSDM, presents two important alternatives to the more widespread Scrum and XP methodologies.

• Agile Project Management: Reliable Innovation

  Jim Highsmith

  By: Jim Highsmith

  This webinar discusses how Agile project management excels on projects in which new, risky technologies are incorporated, requirements are volatile and evolve, time-to-market is critical, and high quality must be maintained.

• Avoiding the Four Roadblocks to Agile Adoption

  Dean Leffingwell

  By: Dean Leffingwell

  This webinar describes the top four roadblocks teams often face when implementing Agile development and project management practices.

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Project Management Articles

• Ready for Agile: An Intro to Agile Principles

  Ryan Martens

  By: Ryan Martens

  Agile is an organizational change tool that can lead to positive changes in your projects and programs. It is a very simple and different strategy for project management than critical path and waterfall. This introduction to Agile is written for traditionally trained project managers who understand and practice critical-path planning and stage-gate program management.

• Bridging the Gap: Agile Projects in the Waterfall Enterprise

  Michele Sliger

  By: Michele Sliger

  The economy’s downturn and subsequent budget cuts have led to greater interest in how to do things faster and how to do more with less. As a result, Agile methodologies have attracted many CIOs who are looking for approaches to make product development faster, more reliable, and more satisfying to the end-user.

• Scaling Agile Processes: Five Levels of Planning

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  This framework relies on five levels to address the fundamental planning principles of priorities, estimates, and commitments. The five levels can be defined as: product vision, product roadmap, release plan, sprint plan, and daily commitment.

• Agile Tooling: A Point/Counterpoint Discussion

  Ryan Martens

  By: Ryan Martens & Ron Jeffries

  It has been six years since the authoring of the Agile Manifesto, and the technology and tooling landscape has changed since then. This conversation between Ron Jeffries and Ryan Martens debates the merits and weaknesses of tooling Agile.

• The Greening of the Software Industry

  Ryan Martens

  By: Ryan Martens

  In this article, Ryan outlines three innovations that can drive the software industry to a sustainable model of green business and a stronger bottom line. These innovations are: shifting value delivery from product to service, participating in a closed-loop flow of materials where waste is an input, and enhancing resource efficiency by a factor of four.

• In Search of Commitment Clarity

  Michele Sliger

  By: Michele Sliger

  When planning your workload, it's easy to bite off more than you can chew. But as Michele Sliger explains in this tale of one overachiever's attempt to take on too much work, overcommitting yourself means overcommitting your team.

• Case Study: How BMC is Scaling Agile Development

  Ryan Martens

  Israel Gat

  By: Ryan Martens & Israel Gat

  Sure, Agile development works well for small teams. But what happens when you apply Agile practices to a program that involves 300-plus developers and testers spread from India to Houston to Israel?

• Relating PMBOK Practices to Agile Practices

  Michele Sliger

  By: Michele Sliger

  Professionals at the Project Management Institute (PMI) state that the PMBOK is a guide to best practices and that organizations must use their own discretion when implementing the practices. But Michele has found that many of the PMBOK practices can be followed (albeit it sometimes quite differently) in other methodology models, including those of the Agile family.

• The Best-Laid Plans...

  Stacia Broderick

  By: Stacia Broderick

  It's a fact of life that plans change, but the proper implementation of Agile and release planning can get you back on track. Just be sure to keep the communication lines open and clear throughout the process.

• Daily Standup Withdrawal in Scrum Teams

  Stacia Broderick

  By: Stacia Broderick

  There’s a terrible affliction that seems to be going around many Scrum teams. Its symptoms are easy to recognize: glassy eyes, pale skin, robotic answers, and narcoleptic episodes during and immediately following daily standup meetings. The good news is, this syndrome can (and should) be prevented.

• Case Study: Shopzilla Scales Software Agility with Agile Tools

  Ryan Martens

  By: Ryan Martens & Christophe Louvion

  Shopzilla successfully implemented Agile during a six-month period where it doubled its engineering team. While most development teams would have been happy only to have increased its release cycle time by 50%, Shopzilla also increased productivity by 20% and sped new employee ramp time.

• Seven Agile Practices That Scale

  Dean Leffingwell

  By: Dean Leffingwell

  The benefits of Agile software methods, including faster time to market, better responsiveness to changing customer requirements and higher application quality are undeniable to those who have mastered these practices. In this article, Dean observes seven principles common to all Agile methods that can be readily applied throughout the enterprise.

• Retrospectives: A Case Study on Techniques for Incremental Improvement

  Hubert Smits

  By: Hubert Smits

  In this article, Hubert and Tamara describe their work with teams that were spread between the US and India, and with the unavoidable cultural differences.

• Getting New Agile Teams into Flow

  Jean Tabaka

  By: Jean Tabaka

  Jean Tabaka considers "flow," a term borrowed from the Lean thinking world, to be a core discipline for guiding new Agile teams. In this column, Jean reveals the characteristics of Agile teams in flow, the roadblocks they may have to overcome, and the benefits they will derive from their successful flow adoption.

• The Agile Impact Report: Proven Performance Metrics from the Agile Enterprise

  In May 2008, Rally Software commissioned third-party research firm QSM Associates (QSMA) to assess the performance of Agile development projects against plan-based or waterfall industry averages in three key areas: productivity, time-to-market and quality. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the performance of companies that have implemented Agile development practices and utilized them throughout the entire lifecycle. QSMA benchmarked 26 Agile development projects – eight of which were executed by Rally customers – against a database of 7,500 primarily traditional development projects.

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